Wood Betony (RWMWD Plant Guide)

Wood Betony

Pedicularis canadensis

Summary ²

Pedicularis canadensis is a flowering plant in the Orobanchaceae family and is also known as wood betony, beefsteak plant, Canadian lousewort, high heal-all, snaffles, and Canada lousewort. It is found in thickets and dry, open wooded areas throughout Canada and the United States. It is a low, hairy plant with a broad whorl of tubular, hooded flowers on top of a segmented stalk. It blooms during the spring and summer, between May and June.

Description ³

Family:
Orobanchaceae (Broomrape)

Height:
4 to 16 inches

Leaves:
Leaves are mostly basal and up to 6 inches long and 2 inches wide. They have many deeply cut, toothed, rounded, often wavy lobes around the edges and a long stalk sparsely covered in long white hairs. Leaves and stem may be green or tinged red.

Flower:
Flowers are in a thick spike up to 3½ inches long at the top of the stem. Individual flowers are yellow, sometimes reddish brown, ½ to 1 inch long, tubular with the upper lip curving over the lower lip like a hood. The lower lip may be white.

Bloom time:
May-June

Habitat:
part shade, sun; average to dry prairies, open woods

Wildlife Benefits:
Used as shelter by insects and pollinated by bumblebees.

Can I plant this in my garden?
Wood Betony is a perennial that grows easily in well drained gardens with sunlight.

References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedicularis_canadensis
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/wood-betony

Range ³

Sources and Credits

(c) Dan Mullen, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/8583446@N05/7149201563/
Adapted by Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedicularis_canadensis
(c) Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

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Wood Betony

Summary 2

Description 3

Range 3